http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/nevada/nixon/ Nixon, NV News http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/nevada/nixon/content/1b4e7f08a21d62924da77e0a2aa39af8.html The Nevada State Museum's Marjorie Russell Clothing and Textile Center is home to more than 10000 pieces of clothing and textiles http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/nevada/nixon/content/c2cee2272ce85c58a4beca57ab28c06d.html Sarah Palin works fast She instantly became the object of the kind of partisan hatred that most politicians can raise only after prosecuting an unpopular war and lying about their misconduct in office Nixon after making sanctimonious dishonesty an art form and getting caught in flagrante with an intern Clinton and after winning a disputed election and botching a foreign occupation Bush http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/nevada/nixon/content/c5352c8af16a7fa5c79ab23205d1095e.html Politicians are taking on celebrity status with tens of millions tuning in to watch the convention speeches http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/nevada/nixon/content/8dde918ffd68c1fe40ee33c32705ee1d.html Whats in a partys name http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/nevada/nixon/content/c7f9e7f4c9ca66724596ac3db5f9467e.html More delegate interviewsWinning the WestHistory hits home as Obama accepts 8292008America's hopes dreams tensions flow through Denver's streets 8282008Democratic National ConventionRepublican National ConventionBarack Obama for AmericaJohn McCain for PresidentIt was a dramatic story with compelling characters who read great dialogue and snapped out their lines on gorgeous setsThats Robert Thompson a Syracuse University scholar of the history of television describing last weeks Democratic National ConventionAnd Thompson isnt joking In the modern era political conventions must be judged on whether they make for good television and by most accounts the Democrats set a new standard last week using imagery music and words to great effectAny old vaudevillian would applaud the production Thompson saidFirst the scripted story line: The Democrats long campaign as well as the inscrutable personalities of Bill and Hillary Clinton created dramatic tension as the pundits wondered whether they would give fullthroated endorsements to Sen Barack ObamaIt was all a bit phony as the Clintons would obviously endorse Obama for otherwise they might get blamed if he losesNevertheless the media played along perfectly with an assist from Bill Clinton who offered very little praise of Obama before the convention In retrospect it seems possible he did so knowing it would build tensionSen Clinton helped build the suspense even more when she made a strong speech Tuesday thanking supporters but not praising Obama So on Wednesday when she walked onto the convention floor and moved to nominate Obama by acclamation the moment was moving while seeming spontaneousThe richly blue set at the Pepsi Center added to the production valueThe man partly responsible: Democratic operative Michael Meehan who has worked on six conventions He hired Ricky Kirshner a Hollywood production pro who designed sets for the OscarsMeehans task for Thursday nights Obama outdoor speech was a big one especially as the campaign of Arizona Sen John McCain had attacked Obama as a vain celebrity The event at Invesco Field risked cementing that image in the publics imaginationThe Obama campaign led by campaign manager David Plouffe and senior strategist David Axelrod had three imperatives Meehan said: Build a great set keep 80000 people excited all evening and get them to sign up to work for the campaignWith Kirshner busy across town the Democrats had to tap another designer Bobby Allen who had designed sets for perhaps unfortunately Britney SpearsBut Meehan credited Axelrod whos lauded as a master of political imagery and sound for the impressive optics of the eventRepublicans mocked the campaign in advance for the sets classical columns What they didnt consider were the TV angles As the event unfolded on television the columns were rarely shown Instead camerias caught a rich brown backdrop for the podium making it plausibly presidentialAs for revving up the crowd: Jennifer Hudson sang the national anthem Stevie Wonder sang Signed Sealed Delivered Im Yours and asked God to bless ObamaThis was less political convention than Super Bowl halftime showThe campaign passed out flags coopting a symbol the public has come to see as RepublicanownedWeve been fighting this since George HW Bush went to a flag factory in 88 Meehan said Our party has been on the short end of that for 20 years and Obama wasnt going to allow thatJoe Erwin an advertising firm president who blogged about the convention for Advertising Age was impressed: If you can grow your brand by stealing the best attributes of another brand do itAs a result every time the networks had a panel discussion the backdrop was the crowds decidedly multiracial tableau furiously waving flagsThe event even had talented extras The campaign saluted retired generals and admirals then used regular people many former Republicans to offer the harshest attacks of the night on McCainYet all of this still depended on Obama to transform it into more than entertainment It only works if you can follow up with a killer speech Thompson saidObama went head on at criticism that hes offered too few policy details and isnt tough enough by spelling out what hed do as presidentMeehan said Obama has mastered the technique of looking directly into the camera at key moments About Republican attacks on him he looked into the camera said I get itIn another important moment discussing the past eight years of Republican rule he bellowed EnoughErwin said it rounded out the Obama candidacy: I think it dimensionalized the Obama brand People whod never seen him saw the complete package He was friendly and smiled but he showed hed stand up to anybody if America needed him toMoreover as Erwin noted the convention rolled out with a slow build showing its best moment when the most people were watching Nearly twice as many people watched this speech as viewed his 2004 Democratic convention appearanceObama finished his speech and a country song of course hit the speakers as his family and the Bidens came out to embrace himThen fireworks set to music from the movie Remember the TitansThe visuals: Mountains fireworks the skyline the stadium the youthful and telegenic Obama familyNot surprisingly Obama is getting a healthy bounce out of the convention Gallup tracking polls showWith help of current Fox News impresario Roger Ailes Richard Nixon pioneered politics as TV show in 1968 Ronald Reagan mastered it through his presidency The Republican Party is filled with expert stage managers and no doubt this week well see that expertise in St Paul http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/nevada/nixon/content/fa6ae7e9b9731d30f4d6397e3a978fb3.html 1 Don't think clothing was cheaper 150 years ago The Nevada State Museum's Marjorie Russell Clothing and Textile Research Center has a dress worn by Margaret Ormsby the wife of Major James Ormsby to the Nevada Territorial Ball in 1861 The Ormsby family can be linked back to today's Ormsby House in Carson City The salmoncolored hoop scoop dress with an 18inch waist and 28inch bust is the oldest dress from Nevada at the museum According to Jan Loverin the museum's curator of textiles and fabric the fabric on the dress alone would have cost more than 3500 in today's terms http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/nevada/nixon/content/71fcf2541a6ca98d9294d517cc43d7f8.html An Oakland man had almost an ounce of cocaine and ecstasy and more than three ounces of marijuana when a Nevada Highway Patrol trooper pulled him over Tuesday for driving at least 80 mph between Nixon and the Black Rock Desert http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/nevada/nixon/content/d10ac39b00052dfb0dc35dd9de03c106.html Burning Man organizers have contracted with the Nevada Highway Patrol to provide a dozen or more extra troopers a day through the weekend to assist motorists and help keep a remote 74mile stretch of state highway safe between US Interstate 80 and the counterculture festival Organizers of the celebration in the Black Rock Desert about 120 miles north of Reno are paying 64321 to cover a total of 96 overtime shifts that began Monday and extend through Labor Day Trooper Chuck Allen said Thursday